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Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica
DESCRIPTION Somewhat larger than the Alpine chamois, with longer horns.
DISTRIBUTION Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and various parts of the former Yugoslavia including Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Voivodina, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia (but not in Slovenia, which has only Alpine chamois).
Indigenous populations of balcanica are found in the central region of Bosnia & Herzegovina, and in southwestern Kosovo near the border with Albania. There have also been introductions of balcanica in parts of Bosnia & Herzegovina, and in parts of Croatia and Serbia where chamois had not previously occurred.
Some say that introductions of Alpine chamois (R. r. rupicapra) have been made in southeastern Montenegro and southwestern Kosovo close to Albania; however, others deny this. While recognizing the possibility of hybrids in these areas, we elect to treat all chamois in the former Yugoslavia (except Slovenia) as Balkan chamois and all populations as indigenous.
STATUS Numbers estimated at 29,000 (1981). Scarce in Greece, where it is heavily poached and subject to predation by feral dogs.
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